Before watching this, I only watched one Silk Smitha film but have read about her, how by ramping up sexuality in film she was both lusted and reviled. This film stars the immensely appealing and capable Vidya Balan as Silk, a young lady seeking fame as an actress. At first discouraged, her turns as a sexy item girl to actress make her both famous and infamous. Remember, this is India, not Hollywood, so in the film she constantly pushes the envelope of decency and sexuality in film. This works against her eventually, which gives the film its tension and best, though sad, scenes. The acting is all good, but Ms. Balan is a revelation. Whether loosely based on Silk Smitha or not, the story itself keeps your interest, with the direction being crisp and paced well. The bigger the screen, the better the film will feel. Enjoy.

Disclaimer claims that the movie does not resemble any one's life live or dead .With what intention they have put that disclaimer is up to the makers but the truth is that the movie "The Dirty Picture " actually does not resemble any one's life especially Silk Smitha. Just by christening the lead actor as Silk , making the backdrop as Madras & releasing the movie on the day of birth of Silk Smitha , the makers can't fool people that it is a biopic of the deceased actress.It can best be described as an attempt to trace the rise & fall of an "item girl".Milan Luthria who has only 2 significant movies so far in his career spanning 6 films (Taxi No 9211 & Once upon a time in Mumbai) has teamed up with his trusted writer Rajat Arora (who has written almost all of his movie so far) once again for this "The Dirty Picture." What might have been a serious tale of small town girl making it big in the tinsel town before succumbing to the fame & adulation has been made in very B- gradish & rudimentary manner.The makers have made it sure that no one should take it seriously but just have silly gratification & guilty pleasure in fulfilling the voyeuristic instincts in them. Instead of banking on a solid script the makers have found recourse in flaunting the anatomical assets of the lead artist & loads of raunchy bordering on gross dialogs. As a result even if one tries hard to relate to the happenings of the movie & try to have some sympathy on the travails of the protagonist one can't due to the ludicrosity of the writing & making.The first half is actually works out as a spoof, ridiculous one at that . One wonders which cinema industry they are portraying where movies are made with such ludicrous scenes & tasteless titillation. Naseeruddin Shah & Tushar Kapoor characters are mere caricatures where the makers have failed miserably in trying to portray the superstar culture of the south cinema industry. Almost all those concerned in movie making down south from actors , directors, writers , producers as well as the audience are all shown in such ill-informed stereotypical manner.Yes agreed Vidhya Balan has acted well , has put in her soul & whole in to the role , but there are too many distractions to take notice of her histrionics for it is difficult to focus on anything else but what the normal human instinct perceives. So even in the most tragic of sequence in the movie when one actually should have noticed the pain the failing actress going through , mind & the eyes focus on something else which is instinctual. This goes to show that to show boldness on screen one need not actually flaunt their nature's bounty on your face rather facial expressions , voice modulation & knowing how much to expose & how much to conceal is more important. That is what made people like Silk Smitha ,the phenomenon she was ,down south.Vishal-Sekhaar's songs are already a hit but the songs in the movie especially when "Ishq sufiyana" comes everyone burst into laughter for it is nonsensically placed & picturised totally out of sync. And the background score is downright dismal for nowadays even the daily soaps have better background score unlike this street drama like background score.Bobby Singh's cinematography is voyeuristic to put it simply. (It is difficult not to make pun with his name while describing his work but due to self restrain I am abstaining from it :P)On the whole , "The Dirty Picture" is a super hyped movie but in reality a B-grade movie made by mainstream production house , promising writer- director & top class actress as the protagonist.Bottomline : It is a "Dirty Cinema"

In summary, this film is way too vulgar! Sex certainly sells in Bollywood, but this has taken it too far. I was unimpressed with the story line, but must compliment Vidya Balan on not only choosing such a role, but also delivering it to the her best ability. She reminds me of Shabana Azmi - she doesn't do the entertaining all singing and dancing films, or glamour roles but she is turning into a very highly rated and dependable actor. Naseeruddin Shah is simply fantastic! For someone his age, to take on the roles of first Ishqiya and now The Dirty Picture - you have to give him a lot of credit!! Emraan Hashmi is excelling with every film he does. I am happy that he has moved away from doing Vishesh banner films only, and delivering films such as Once Upon a Time..He has talent and it is about time he worked with some well known Directors. Tushaar Kappor is a waste! I find him difficult to watch. He never comes across naturally on screen unless he is mute in the Golmaal series. The only reason why he is in this film is because it's produced by his sister, and the same went for Shootout in Lokhanwala (which he was a total misfit for the role!). Overall I give this film a 6 purely because of Vidya. She is fantastic and deserves all the awards she wins this year, but only due to a lack of competition.

Well, I read some awesome reviews of this movie and decided that i should go for this. but i came out disappointed. I still don't understand what the fuss is all about. People have said that "there is not a dull moment in the movie". i agree. but there is nothing new in the movie. Its too predictable and the dialogues are just pathetic. At time, dialogues didn't even make any sense. The only thing i liked about the movie was the guts. Vidya Balan. Salute you for that. To do such a role. You need guts. Gaining 12 kgs for a girl. To make her body look like that really needs guts. But except for that there was nothing in this movie. All the movie makers cared about was to show skin!! Yes this movie was supposed to be like that, but along with that you got to pay attention to other things as well. where is the acting?? In short: Don't go for this movie, if you are not interested in looking at Vidya Balan's body only!!!